Rebel of the Dreaded Tribe
by rachyzord
Summary: Batman uncovers a new CADMUS project that will affect the League's most powerful metas. BMWW. SMLL.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I: Comfort**

Bruce breathed a sigh of relief as he dropped his briefcase on the side-table. He loosened his tie and kicked off his shoes, sighing in relief.

"A long day at the office, Master Bruce?" Alfred's voice came.

"Always." Bruce grumbled, then softened as the atmosphere of home started to seep in.

The television was on as he past the den. Thomas was watching cartoon and looked up and smiled when he saw Bruce. "Daddy!"

"Hey, buddy." Bruce smiled at the enigmatic three year old who flashed his mother's megawatt smile. "What is Darkwing getting up to this time?"

"Taurus Bulba turned Darkwing over to the po-lice and Launchpad had to come save him." Thomas explains excitedly and plops back down on the couch.

"And did he?"

"Yeah!" Thomas didn't look up.

Bruce chuckled and ruffled his hair. "Where's mom?"

Thomas shrugged. "Ummm...I think she's in the garage again."

_Again? _"Thanks." he gave Thomas a kiss on the top of his head. "I'll be back in a few. Save me a seat." he moved towards the garage.

Alfred gave him a nod. "Indeed, Mrs. Wayne is in the garage again."

He tried to open the garage door but found it locked. He could hear one of the saws going and knocked loudly. The saw stopped. "Who is it?"

"That depends on who you're trying to keep out."

Locks clicked and Diana opened the door a moment later and yanked him in. The door slammed shut and she pressed him against the door and kissed him hard. "Not you." she smiled as she pulled back.

Bruce gave her a grin. "That was a nice welcome home. What are you doing in here anyway? You've been holed up in here for a week." he glanced at a large item covered in a drape sheet.

He moved over to her workbench and cocked a brow as he saw one of his utility belts laid over it and various graph papers with the bat insignia. "And with my belt."

"Don't look so worried, I wasn't exactly wearing it." she was hunched over the workbench.

Bruce moved behind her and rubbed her belly. "And how is she this evening?"

"Jumpy. I don't think she likes the saw." Diana smiled and then purred as Bruce stealthily moved his fingers over her belly. "Mmm."

He rubbed again, feeling the strong movements. "So do I get to see this mystery project?"

"Hnnmmm..." Diana mused. She turned her head and kissed him again.

"I'll give you a belly rub with that new coconut oil." he continued to rub, knowing her weakness.

"Oh fine." she relented in a purr. "Have a peek."

Bruce grabbed one corner of the drape-sheet and lifted. His brows arched. "Wow."

Diana tugged the sheet off so he could take in the full view of the wooden Batmobile bed. "It's for his birthday next week. Obviously it isn't an exact replica, but it's close."

"No, but it is very cool. I'm impressed." he ran his hand over the smooth edges of the back fins. "I have to admit, I had my doubts when you started bringing home power saws."

Diana just chuckled. "As part of my training to perhaps become Queen, mother thought it best I learn how each part of the island worked. I would spend a few months apprenticing here, a few months there."

He touched the insignia on the side of the car. It had always been one of the pain in the ass areas of his costume and he had taken to doing it all on the computer where it was easier. Diana had done hers freehand through measurement and gridwork and it was perfect. "This is absolutely amazing. I could never do the insignia freehand."

She looked at it. "It took quite a few tries. Alfred helped. I'm glad mine is simple."

He chuckled. "Well, yours is a W. Mine is... complicated."

"Just like you." she kissed him and then fished a pickle slice from her ever-present jar and ate it.

He kissed her back. "Your jar's getting low. We'll have to get bigger ones."

"Mmm. So tasty." she ate another one.

He rubbed her belly again. "I wonder if she'll be born green."

"Hopefully not. But if she never eats a pickle in her life, we'll both know why." Diana grinned.

"Wonder if _you'll_ ever eat pickles again after this."

"At least this craving is cheap." she thought back to her pregnancy with Thomas and dire need for macadamia nuts by the pound.

"True" he said knowingly.

"Keep buying sweet baby slices and I'll be a happy Amazon." she put her hands over his on her belly and pulled her goggles off.

He smiled and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Anything for my girls."

She covered the bed back up and shut off the equipment. "I think I can call it a night in here. I should be done the wood parts tomorrow and then Alfred said he would paint it, since I shouldn't."

"Alfred is wise." Bruce agreed. Logically he knew it wasn't a huge deal for her to paint so long as the area was well ventilated. But it Alfred was willing to do it, it was one less thing he needed to worry about and these days, that was a welcome reprieve.

She kissed him once more "Go spend some time with your son, he's been waiting for you to get home."

"He _should_ be in bed."

"We're halfway there. He's in his pjs. He wanted to see you first." she smiled and pulled away. "You get me later."

Thomas had just about drifted off to sleep on the couch as Bruce made his way back to the den. He was still awake enough to smile and then dozed off as Darkwing saved the day.

Bruce scooped him up and carried him up to his room and tucked him in. "Sleep well, buddy. Hopefully I won't be working late tomorrow." he sighed.

The Manor darkened as Alfred retired for the evening, leaving Bruce and Diana to themselves.

_In her favorite spot again _he thought as he found her in the darkened sunroom. Diana actually preferred it as a 'wetroom', enjoying the frequent rain and storms at this time of the year. Such a storm had picked up and they listened to the good rumble of thunder.

He admired her form, backlit by the moon, for a few moments before moving behind her and wrapping his arms around her belly. He kissed her bare shoulder. "You've been watching the news?"

He pulled her close, remaining silent.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II: Discoveries**

Bruce landed on the rooftop of Gotham PD where Commissioner Gordon was awaiting him. The older man was pacing slightly, a sign of his nervousness. He looked up as he heard the flourish of Batman's cape.

"What is it, Jim?" The police scanner had been clear indicating this call was different.

Gordon held out a folder "A personal call this time. I received this earlier this morning."

Bruce took the folder and tabbed it open.

"I checked with some of my old friends from the academy, every station in various cities across America received similar packages."

The lenses narrowed as he tabbed through it.

"I thought your League buddies might want a heads up." Gordon stared at him. "I'll try to keep a lid on things for the moment but they'll be checking up soon."

Bruce nodded and disappeared with the metal hiss of his grapnel. He tapped the earpiece "Oracle."

"Here. What's the scoop?" the female voice came over the other side.

"I need you to crack the DOD system."

There was a pause on the other end. "That won't be easy."

"Needs to be done." he replied gruffly.

"Alright, it's going to take me some time."

"Barbara, make it fast." he replied cryptically. He landed in the Batmobile and slammed the canopy shut, blasting towards the Manor.

The file folder sat on the passenger seat next to him and he glared at it from time to time.

The Manor was silent and dark as the clock slid to the side and he exited into the hallway. He instantly detected movement and narrowed his eyes. Everyone had been in a deep slumber when he left...

It was coming from the kitchen where he housed the expensive appliances, china and silverware.

He moved cautiously towards it.

A soft light was coming from inside and he heard dishes rattling softly.

His eyes narrowed and then he relaxed and smirked as he saw the cause of the disturbance.

Diana was rummaging around and helping herself to some tea and cookies. He glanced at the clock. 2:30 am. "Sugar made not aid your way to sleep."

She looked up in surprise and then smiled. "I couldn't sleep. The tea will help and the cookies are an indulgence."

"I've been wondering how we suddenly seem to run out of cookies once a week."

She blushed a little and then glanced at the folder tucked under his arm "What's that?"

"Just something for work." he moved over and kissed her hard.

She arched a brow at the random act of passion "What was that for?"

"I need a reason?"

Diana snagged a cookie off her plate and smiled at him. "I suppose not. Well, I'm heading back to bed."

He snagged her arm as she moved past and kissed her again. "I'll be up soon."

She stared at him for a long moment and then nodded, continuing on her way.

* * *

"Come on Thomas, you have to hustle if you're going to make it to school on time." Diana called to the snail-paced child that finally descended from the stairs.

"Alright, alright."

She quickly looped his backpack onto him "Remember, Alfred is taking you and picking you up today because Dad and I both have errands to run." she told him quickly and kissed him "Now scoot."

Alfred was waiting by the door "This way, young Master."

Thomas nodded and ran towards him, waving to Diana. She smiled and waved back, watching them depart, then hurried back upstairs and tossed her robe off.

"Morning already?" Bruce stirred.

"For some of us." she smirked "Go back to sleep, it's still early. Thomas and Alfred just left."

He grunted and looked over at her, tugging her back down into bed when she got too close. "Good, then we have time to ourselves."

Diana extricated herself from his nibbling at her earlobe "Not this morning."

He frowned "Why? Where are you going?"

"I'm meeting Lois for breakfast." she continued pulling clothes on to his chagrin.

Bruce grumbled "I never liked reporters."

Diana chuckled and kissed him "Don't sulk, I'll be home in a few hours."

He just gave a grunt and lay back down as she departed.

Lois was already waiting for her at their usual cafe, one of those silver plastic coffee cups already steaming in her hand.

_Coffee waits for no woman _Lois had told her on their second meeting.

Diana ordered herself some juice and a bagel and sat down with her.

Lois eyed her carefully. There was something different about her this morning. She was smiling and seemed relaxed to all the world but she could see a certain questioning behind it. She waited while Diana cut her bagel, then buttered it, then sipped at her juice before finally demanding "Spill."

"What?" Diana looked up curiously.

"I can tell there's something on your mind that you want to talk about, so spill."

The Amazon sat back and sighed a little. "Your instincts are on as always. It's Bruce."

Her brow arched "Trouble in paradise?"

"Not at all." Diana shook her head "Quite the opposite actually. Things have been fairly routine for months now. He was called out last night," she paused and stared at her so make sure she understood the meaning, "and when he came back it was..different."

"Different how?"

"Incredibly affectionate."

Both brows rose now "Affectionate? As in..cuddling?" _The Batman cuddling? This is too good. _

"I'm not sure, but it's been a long time since he was that direct about his...interest. And I could sense more but he wouldn't talk about it." Diana shrugged. "I'm sure it's nothing." she added too quickly and went back to her bagel. "So, what about you and Clark?"

Lois shook her head "Oh no, you aren't dodging the bullet that easy, sister.."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III: To some, revelations. To others, secrets.**

"Maybe a life or death call?" Lois suggested, after listening to Diana's play-by-play of the previous night and morning.

"I don't think so. He wasn't injured at all." Diana shook her head.

"Visit to Arkham?" she whispered more quietly.

"I don't know. He doesn't always talk about his work."

"Hmnnnnnn." Lois wondered.

"I'm probably reading far too much into it."

"Maybe."

Diana looked over at her. "You're not going to tell me about you and Clark are you?"

"Nope." the reporter smirked "Besides, this is far more interesting." she glanced at her watch "Oop, I gotta run. Work calls."  
The Amazon nodded "Alright, I'll let you know if anything else strange happens." Diana watched her race off, clutching her coffee and purse in one hand and waving wildly at a cab with the other.

She returned to the Manor with a heavy sigh. The meeting had raised more questions than it had given her answers. She didn't know what secret Bruce was keeping from her now but she intended to find out.

* * *

The file slapped down on the conference table loudly, as the rest of the League stared at it.

Batman narrowed his lenses "Read it."

Superman stared at him and then reached out first, opening it up and flipping through it quickly. His mouth faded into a grim line as he read. "They can't be serious."

"They are." Batman replied flatly. "I had Oracle hack the DOD database. This is straight from Washington itself."

Flash took the folder next. _I hate reading... _"MERIT?"

"Metahuman, Enforcement, Registration & Information Taskforce." Batman interrupted his reading. "The first law of it's kind, demanding enforcement of the metahuman population."

"They can't do that, that's...discrimination." Flash frowned "Isn't it?"

"I don't think it matters at this point." Superman said. "It's already passed Congress and the Senate."

John was reading the file as well. "How haven't we heard of this until now?"

Batman looked at him "The government has restricted access. They're keeping a tight lid on this to avoid a panic or mass exodus of metas from the country."

"Can't say I blame them if this is what we get for helping." Shayera crossed her arms over her chest and sat back.

"That's not the point." Batman glared and hit a few buttons, bringing up various charts on the viewscreen. "Their main collaborator is CADMUS, but MERIT goes beyond anything CADMUS ever did. They've already taken over CADMUS's files on all known metahumans and expanded them to be even more detailed. They've been conducting surveillance on some they've deemed of special concern." he kept his voice even but his anger was flaring behind the cowl. Diana had been one of those under surveillance. They had dozens of pictures of her on file, from her trips into Gotham, picking up and dropping off Thomas at school, some of himself and her. He'd never even seen the camera or sensed the photographer.

"This cannot bode well." J'onn stared at the display.

"No. Under MERIT, all metahumans would be legally mandated to register, at which point an RFID-"

"RFID?" Flash asked.

Batman glared but answered. "Radio-Frequency Identification, small microchips implanted in the tricep. Usually used in hospital settings for quick access to medical information." he continued on. "RFID chips would be implanted but take information well beyond medical." he loaded up more charts on the viewscreen. "Each metahuman is given a color-coding based on their level of threat. Those who possess the least threat will be coded with blues, working up to those of the largest threat, represented by red. It all corresponds to the 'Threat Level' tree here."

They all stared, some relieved. Hawkgirl's name was a greeny-blue in the lower middle section, near the bottom and she sat back. Martian Manhunter and Flash's names lingered near the top in an orange-red hue. Sitting atop them all in a bright cherry red was Wonder Woman and Superman.

"How come you and Bats aren't on here?" Flash asked John.

"Because we're human." Batman interrupted again. "The bill only covers those with true metahuman powers. Once you take away my gadgets and his ring, we're just human."

Clark was staring at his and Diana's name blinking atop the chart. "Have you told Diana yet?" he asked Bruce.

"No and it stays that way for now." he narrowed his eyes at the rest of the League, daring them to challenge him. "She has enough to deal with at the moment."

"So what do we do then?" Flash asked. "We can't just sit and let them tag us like dogs."

"No," Superman agreed "We need to spread the word, let others know. When the time is right I'll arrange a press conference and let the world know that the Justice League doesn't endorse it and that we won't go down without a fight."

Batman nodded "Each of you will have to decide for yourselves what you want to do."

With that, he turned on his heel and left the conference room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV: Long Day**

Clark flew into his apartment, his mind full of what he had learned. He started to peel his Superman uniform off.

"Long day at work?"

She startled him. She actually startled Superman. Lois cocked a brow. "Must've been."

With his shirt half-off he was already transforming back into mild-mannered Clark Kent and flushed a little. "Oh, yeah. I didn't hear you."

"I am quite sneaky. What's up?"

"Long day." he mimed, more Superman stating something official this time.

She rolled her eyes. This ping-ponging between his egos was nothing new. Most days she tried to get him to open up about his League activities. And most days she was left to find them out from the 6 o'clock news.

Clark disappeared into their bedroom and shut the door after him. He stared at it and sighed heavily, sitting on the foot of the bed. _Lois is so proud of us, how do I tell her that I've gone from Superman to Supercriminal? _He shook his head _I shouldn't be thinking like that. Diana's name was up there too and she has so much more to lose than I do...._

Lois could sense the tension and moved to the door and knocked "Clark?"  


* * *

Bruce arrived in the Batcave and dropped the file on a table, moving to Batcomputer. He pushed a few buttons and then moved over to the lockers, peeling away the Batsuit. The computer would collect any new information and highlight that pertaining to any League members.

"Another long day?" Alfred asked as he came down the stairs bearing a tray.

"Always." Bruce said.

The butler held out a fresh pair of pants and shirt "If I may ask, does it concern that which we spoke of before? Miss Barbara was also mentioning it."

"Barbara was here?"

"Only to visit Mrs. Wayne."

He grimaced. _Great, another concern I don't need. Whenever those two get together.... _"How much did this visit cost me?"

"Only a pack of cookies, Sir."

_Not so awful. Guess she isn't shopping capable anymore._ He nodded and finally answered the question posed. "Yes."

Alfred was used to his segways and fluidly adjusted "She wished for me to pass on that she is monitoring the situation."

"Did she tell Diana?"

The elder man looked at him. "I am not used to evesdropping on the conversation of respectable women, but as far as I am aware, Mrs. Wayne remains unaware of the situation."

"Good."

"You are not intending to tell her? She seems to feature quite heavily in their plans."

"That is exactly why I'm not going to tell her."

"Very good, Sir." Alfred nodded and bowed, taking his leave.

Bruce moved towards the shower, passing through the gym. He put a hand on the punching bag and then grimaced and hit it, uttering a silent curse. He'd worried badly enough about protecting Diana from the few psychos...Joker, Harley, Killer Croc. At least his rogue's galley was small and he knew them. How was he supposed to protect his wife, his son, from the _entire_ US Government?

* * *

Diana watched Alfred return, sans tray, and stood.

The surprise visit from Barbara had almost entirely removed the stain of her failed coffee with Lois. The Commissioner's daughter was one of Diana's few human friends and she respected and enjoyed the woman immensely. Barbara was intelligent, witty, always hedged on respectful silence when it came to her moonlight activities as Oracle for Bruce and best, was an open font of stories about Bruce and Dick in a time before she knew him. The two had a wonderful two hours talking and laughing over stories. Diana had shared some of Thomas's latest exploits and accomplishments, of which she was always proud, to Barbara's delight.

Some which she was also eager to share with Bruce. She moved down into the Batcave and looked around. Most of the lights were off. The Batmobile was still on the turnstile. The punching bag in the gym was squeaking and swinging softly and she moved over to it, steadying it. There was a singular dent on one side.

"Bruce?" she looked around but there was no other sign of him.

The Batcomputer was working away on something, but it often was so she ignored it and moved to the teleporter. A single file sat out on a table, some of the papers leaking out ready to topple over the edge. _Must've been quite a day for him to be so lazy with his work. He's usually so anal about this. _She picked it up to put it back in the filing cabinet when she caught sight of a certain name. _CADMUS? _She frowned. _I might be pregnant but I'm still Wonder Woman, no reason I should be lazy in my research just because I can't be out there battling anymore. _

* * *


End file.
